So I've decided to (finally) get around to uploading pictures of two of my WIP 1/200 scale ships from 8-10 months back. These two ladies are USS Helena and HMAS Canberra. Both were pretty well progressed, but neither was finished. I redid much of Helena's superstructure to make her into an earlier Brooklyn class, but that also remained incomplete before she was scrapped.

About this creation

Keep in mind that both these ships were never finished and were scrapped because I wasn't really happy with them (and got all excited to try new projects).

First, USS Helena CL-50. A survivor of Pearl Harbor, sunk by Japanese torpedoes at the Battle of Kula Gulf.
Helena with Astoria

As above.

As above. I was pretty excited to have two US cruisers running around in the same camouflage scheme, if you can't tell. Note Astoria has a couple of floatplanes, while Helena's aircraft handling equipment, which should be near the stern of the ship, is not installed.

Helena with another WIP...though this time the underside of one.

As above.

Helena presented a challenge in 1/200 scale in the form of the dual 5"/38cal mounts. This is how I handled it...not perfect by it wasn't too bad.

The 5" mount again.

A detail shot amidships. Probably the best shot of the AA suite and the funnels. I tried something new with the funnels, and it turned out fairly well. Helena's funnels were round in cross-section, but in scale would be directly between 2 and 4 studs in diameter. This workaround let me keep the ship in the same scale and have believable funnels.

Here I have completely scrapped the superstructure and am preparing to convert the ship to a Brooklyn class.

Bow on, what to notice here is that I have gone mostly studless on the main deck and I have gone to a completely new design for the main battery.

A bit better detail shot. The bridge is coming into shape, and you can also see the very beginnings of HMS Canopus for comparison! The aircraft handling systems that were absent so long are finally here! Before I deconstructed it I had completed the masts and splinter shields for the 5" secondary armament. Sadly I don't have any pictures of it at that stage.

And now for HMAS Canberra! Canberra was a Kent class "County" heavy cruiser. She was sunk at the Battle of Savo Island in 1942 along with USS Astoria (and two more of Astoria's sister ships). I'd always wanted to do Canberra and Astoria, so a lot of the pictures I have put them together.
The very earliest starts on the hull. When I build I tend to set up the hull shape before I do the internal bracing. That way I can conform the internal structure to the hull shape, not vice-versa.

Hull start with components of the superstructure.

Hull with USS Astoria.

Mocking up the ship. everything is sitting on loose bricks inside the hull.

Though the hull looks finished, this is another "mock up" picture. What gives it away is the big open spot on the bow.

And this is as far as the ship got. No secondary armament, no ships boats, no seaplane. What really doomed this build for me was never being happy with some key parts of the superstructure. The funnels also never gave me a warm fuzzy.

Quoting P. Voranc
Looking forward to it... A Kiev-class aircraft carrier is the next project you'll see on my page and it is already well progressed, but I'll have to find some time to realize the 'photo session'. After abandoning (even though I'm still not 100% sure) the idea of building Vittorio Veneto, I might just give it a try with the Richelieu. The mid-war camouflage looks tempting because it is quite blocky, therefore very suitable for us, LEGO fans...

A mid-war Richelieu would be a marvelous project! I absolutely love seeing ships other than Yamato, Iowa and Bismark show up in MOCs. So many interesting designs out there that don't always see the light of day. Plus the Richelieu is such a unique ship in its own right that it really deserves a well-done MOC. There are so many absolutely great looking ships from WWII that I don't think quality subject matter will ever be lacking =)

Looking forward to it... A Kiev-class aircraft carrier is the next project you'll see on my page and it is already well progressed, but I'll have to find some time to realize the 'photo session'. After abandoning (even though I'm still not 100% sure) the idea of building Vittorio Veneto, I might just give it a try with the Richelieu. The mid-war camouflage looks tempting because it is quite blocky, therefore very suitable for us, LEGO fans...

Quoting P. Voranc
You are definetly a great builder. These two ships are amazing, I like the technique you've used for making the guns and the smoke stacks are very clever too. If you have enough light grey tiles, make me a favor and build an Italian wwII cruiser... or French, both would be welcome!

Actually I currently am close to finishing up my current project and I've been looking for a new project for a while now. Your suggestion of an Italian cruiser might be just the thing ;) I've admired their air recognition stripes for a long time now and I think it'll look AMAZING in Lego :D

You are definetly a great builder. These two ships are amazing, I like the technique you've used for making the guns and the smoke stacks are very clever too. If you have enough light grey tiles, make me a favor and build an Italian wwII cruiser... or French, both would be welcome!